Volunteers travel from six states to support massive rescue mission
February 28, 2011 – United Animal Nations (UAN), a California-based national nonprofit organization, is running a temporary shelter in
  One of many chained dogs awaits rescue in Houston County, Alabama. Photo courtesy The HSUS.  |
Distinguished by their red shirts, UAN volunteers are specially trained to care for and shelter animals after they have been rescued from cruelty and neglect situations or displaced by natural disasters.
“UAN’s volunteers travel at their own expense at a moment’s notice when animals in crisis need their help,” said Janell Matthies, UAN Emergency Services Manager, who came to Alabama from Sacramento, California to manage the shelter. “They are trained to give stressed animals loving human contact, often for the first time in their lives.”
Twelve UAN volunteers have traveled from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and New York to care for the animals at the temporary shelter, and six more will arrive later this week. UAN has more than 3,000 active volunteers in the United States and Canada, including 31 in Alabama, and provides its services free of charge to the community.
When rescuers arrived at Dirty Sally’s Pet Pals they found dogs housed in feces-ridden outdoor pens, inside several dilapidated trailers and chained to trees throughout the property. Cats were living in a dirty pen with little protection from the cold and rain. A veterinarian on the scene determined that many of the dogs suffered from medical ailments such as skin infections, untreated wounds and other serious ailments.
This rescue was set in motion by the Houston County Sheriff’s Department, which received numerous tips about cruel conditions and neglected animals in need of veterinary care and contacted The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for assistance. The HSUS called in United Animal Nations to provide animal care and sheltering support until the animals can be placed with rescue groups for adoption.
- To support UAN’s work to provide temporary sheltering for animals rescued from large-scale cruelty situations or displaced by natural disasters, donate to our Disaster Relief Fund.
- Learn more about animal hoarding, a psychological condition in which people collect more animals than they can provide proper food, shelter, sanitation and veterinary care for.
- Read more about this response and see photos on our Emergency Response Journal.
MEDIA CONTACT: Alexis Raymond, (916) 429-2457 or (916) 583-8261
Founded in 1987, United Animal Nations (UAN) focuses on bringing animals out of crisis and strengthening the bond between people and animals through a variety of programs, including emergency sheltering, disaster relief services, financial assistance and education. Learn more at www.uan.org.
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